Selective hearing can be a problem for robots, which struggle to pick up individual voices or conversations in a crowded area. Scientists at the Imperial College London refined robot hearing by using 32 different microphones arranged at slightly different distances around a sphere. A computer analyzes the tiny differences in the time it takes for sound to reach the individual microphones in order to determine one voice from another.
This isn’t necessarily for robotic spies; it’s almost essential for robots that work in noisy factories, offices or hospitals. The next step is to mount it on a robot and find a way to make sure the microphones ignore background sound. Visitors to the college can try out the device during the Summer Science Exhibition.
System to help robots ‘hear better’
Lead scientist Dr Patrick Naylor, from Imperial College London, said: "Being able to pick out particular conversations or voices in a crowd is a real challenge for everyday devices like phones and hearing aids. " Humans have an extraordinary ability to tune in to particular sounds, picking voices out of a noisy environment …
Filed Under: Rapid prototyping
